By Steven Lovison, M.A.Theology, Founder of Adoration
Servants and Lead Servant since 2004.
Began 2/7/25 in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament (Feast
of Bl Pope Pius IX & St Romuald)
worked on throughout the week often in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and
completed 2/15/25 on the feast of St Claude de la Colombriere who is famous for
his preaching against the evil of Catholic lukewarmness to the Eucharist.
The purpose of this document is to propose and describe a
plan to bring about a love of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament such that it
will not be just a flash in time but rather an ongoing, growing, sustainable
priority in the world. Details of the tasks involved will be identified but
only to a point.More importantly will
be a background of how we got to this point and how we are not likely to give
this project the attention and priority it, i.e., Our Lord Jesus Christ in the
Most Holy Eucharist, deserves.If we can
come to see why it is unlikely that we who actually want to do this, will not
likely do this, then maybe that epiphany will shock us into actually taking on
this great project that can change the world. Maybe.
This plan will never be accomplished without the key members
of the team truly believing in and living the plan. Otherwise we may be part of
the “bigger problem” in the Introduction.
I would ask that, if you think it would be helpful, you read
this document in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
As we come to the close of the final third year of the
Eucharistic Revival it may be good to look at the fruits without rose colored
glasses.It has been stated the
Eucharistic Revival was started due to a survey stating that only 30% of
Catholics believe in the Real Presence as if that was a recent revelation.It should be noted this result is not new.
Similar survey results have happened a number of times in the recent past.
Certainly, at the time of the Revival announcement and
during the initial months, growing Eucharistic Adoration was at the forefront
as a goal. Bishop Cozzens most certainly
talked about and encouraged Eucharistic Adoration and its importance.
As the Revival wore on, Adoration was less and less
discussed especially after the Indiana Congress event.I was not at the event but watched a number
of Indiana talks with my mom and read various articles.I talked with people who did attend.There were many beautiful talks on many
subjects but I did not hear any that called for people to run to Eucharistic Adoration
and to spend more time in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. This relates to the “bigger problem” soon to
be identified in the Executive Summary.
Yes, there were obviously packed scheduled Adoration events in
Indiana, but I was also told that after the last talk of the day ended, the
Adoration chapel across the street was never full.It seems the Revival message prevalent at
this time has been reduced to a rather vague suggestion to “be more
Eucharistic.” While writing this
proposal I could not help but be reminded of the swansong event of St Pope John
Paul II, ie, the Year of the Eucharist from October 2004 to October 2005 during
which John Paul II passed away in April 2005.
I suspect we are moving toward a Post-Revival era that
Bishop Timothy Freyer warns of in the “Jesus Thirsts” movie. We were moved by
the revival but almost immediately the urgent takes priority over the
important. People get excited for the
important in the moment but then the urgencies of life bring them back to wherever
they were prior to the excitement.
I want to say this is exactly what happened after the
2004-2005 Year of the Eucharist but actually during my relook at that year—one
which I monitored closely and was very active in with my work with Adoration
Servants—I see that the proposals at the conclusion of that year were pretty
much ignored and have since been forgotten. (see Appendix II & V)
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it.”We are at risk of repeating a past
of lost fruits from the 2004-2005 Year of the Eucharist which could be said to have
helped us to a world where only 30% of
Catholics believe in the Real Presence. The muckraking author Sinclar Lewis, in
his novel Elmer Gantry about the Protestant revivals from 100 years ago, has an
important lesson, nicely captured in the Burt Lancaster/Jean Simmons movie of
the same name. A revival moves people
but only during the heat of the revival. Once the people go back to their home
Churches, nothing really changes, the revival flames are extinguished, and the
people go back to a lukewarm normal.
I have been supporting Eucharistic Adoration Chapels around
the country for over 20 years and it has been my life mission for all those
years, uncomfortably within my financial means.I have also owned a copy for the Vatican Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles
and have been bringing it to Churches since 2007.While there has been more of a Revival-inspired
demand for the Miracles Exhibit than normal, almost all parishes that display
it fail to tie that event to any significant, tangible call to spend
more time in Eucharistic Adoration, daily Mass, prayer.
There is another survey that has been around for years that
should really get more publicity than the 30% survey.That survey reports that 70% of men who enter
the seminary have participated in Eucharistic Adoration prior to entering the
seminary. On that note a simple
Executive Summary follows.
This document assumes the reader has an understanding of the
Catholic Faith, of the Real Presence, of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
and of Eucharistic Adoration.
Some of the 30% who believe want to be in the Presence of
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, especially when Our Lord is exposed in a
Monstrance. It is a fact that more souls come to visit Our Lord’s Physical
Presence when He is exposed. While the
Revival bemoans only 30% believe, the teaching of Our Lord to St Margaret Mary,
among others, brings up an even bigger problem than those who believe in the
Real Presence but who are indifferent. Indifferent. They do not visit
Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. By
their actions it seems they do not believe in Jesus’ desire to be with us
physically and His power to have a tremendous impact in our lives and the lives
of others. As will be mentioned again, St Mother Teresa said that abortion will
end when every parish practices significant Eucharistic Adoration. She credited her daily hour of Eucharistic
Adoration with giving her the strength to live a life amongst the poorest of
the poor.
Like the 2004-2005 Year of the Eucharist, the current
Eucharistic Revival has generated excitement and great efforts.But like that Year of the Eucharist, the
Revival runs the risk of “being lost in time, like tears in rain.”Scattered, individual efforts will bear some
fruit but ten years from now a survey could very well report the same 30%
belief in the Real Presence.Is that
what we want?Again?
Upon completion of the 2004-2005 Year of the Eucharist, a
Synod of Bishops gave a series of proposals to Pope Benedict XVI who took those
proposals and made recommendations(see Sacramentum Caritatis). In addition the
Congregation of Priests called for extreme growth of Eucharistic Adoration strongly
suggesting a full time priest who would be dedicated to the growth of
Eucharistic Adoration in every diocese.
Most of these proposals never really happened. (see Appendix
II & V)
There was an event even before 2004 that actually
produced incredible fruits which are still visible today:the 1993 Eucharistic Congress in Spain.
At that Congress St Pope John Paul II said: “I hope that
... perpetual adoration, with permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament,
will continue into the future. Specifically, I hope that the fruit of this
Congress results in the establishment of perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in all
parishes and Christian communities throughout the world.”
Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration growth took off after 1993
and continued strong for some 15 years but then began to taper off. In 2005, Adoration Servants was involved in an effort to
create an Inter Diocesan Eucharistic Adoration Society (I.D.E.A.S) which lost
momentum due to a series of events and was forgotten. This could be looked at a milestone of Eucharistic
decline.
The Post-Revival Catholic World currently needs a
tangible goal to make the vague goal of “be more Eucharistic” bear maximum
fruit for years to come.
Our post-revival goal should be to publicly, loudly, continuously,
and with significant resources, make the 1993 call of St Pope John Paull II to
have Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in every parish in the world a reality.
To achieve this goal the Most Holy Eucharist, the Mass,
and Eucharistic Adoration cannot just be mentioned here and there and be given
the same kind of priority any other effort is given, be that organization be
prayer, good works, whatever.
First and foremost, this goal to make Perpetual Adoration a
reality, needs to be publicly declared and supported by bishops as well as
priests much more noticeably than takes place today, however, immediate
progress need not be hampered by postponed perfection.Work can begin immediately. Eucharistic
Adoration is primarily a lay ministry.Lay
people must act as the Eucharistic Guardians and manage the
effort. It cannot become a burden on the
pastors, priests, and deacons.
The way to do that is to establish a group, we will call
them “Eucharistic Guardians”, dedicated to growth of Eucharistic Adoration with
both the autonomy and authority to act decisively in order inspire the Catholic
faithful at the diocesan and parish levels. This group should provide key tools
to aid parishes in growing Perpetual Adoration, in managing Perpetual
Adoration, and in advertising Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.This group will foster communication and collaboration
across dioceses, religious communities, and lay apostolates while avoiding
unnecessary bureaucracy. It will offer resources, guidance, and strategic
leadership, ensuring that Eucharistic Adoration is not only sustained but
expanded in every parish. By operating with focused purpose and a commitment to
action, this group will serve the Church as a driving force in transforming
Eucharistic Adoration into an enduring and universal reality that will bear
great fruits. Eucharistic Adoration growth should be given priority, without
apology, over other ministries.The more
time people spend with Jesus in the Eucharistic, the more Jesus will inspire
them to all other good works. John 15:5 “Without Me you can do nothing.”
The mission of this group is to offer up time, talent, and
treasure in the service of those people who are supporting, promoting, and
administrating Eucharistic Adoration.The goal is to make the work of Adoration Management easier and more effective,
primarily through prayer and communications but especially through the use of
computer systems, to facility growth of Eucharistic Adoration. The vision of
the group is for its tools to be used
around the world tangibly uniting adorers in their Eucharistic Adoration
efforts and leveraging resources for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.
Along with clergy to provide spiritual direction and
guidance, this group needs a lay leader who can make progress immediately.
The “Plan” section this document will put forth a general
tasks on how this can be achieved based on Steve Lovison’s 20 years of being
obsessed with the Eucharist using his professional skills as a system developer
supporting Adoration at parishes around the country as well as his experience
in the corporate world.
Steve has put his non-profit organization, Adoration
Servants, as the top priority of his life.Self-funded as his time, treasure and talents could afford for these
past 20 years, he has supported Dioceses and Chapels around the country in
their Adoration efforts.He has made his
computer consulting business secondary in his life allowing it to support his
family and his Adoration efforts. His
consulting business has supported corporations and has done so with better
quality, at less cost, more productively, and with less resources than is
typical of large corporations.And the
Catholic Church in indeed a large corporation.
System support of this nationwide effort should have a full
time person who loves the Eucharistic, has experience supporting Adoration and
has system development knowledge to get quality systems in place that are
actually efficient and efficacious.These systems and projects will constantly be improving.
Much of this document has been outlined and written during
Eucharistic Adoration, following the example of John Paul II who did much of
his writing in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.It is a good plan.It is a plan that will do what Bishop Timothy
Freyer said needs to be done in his homily after the Indiana Congress, ie, to
bring people into Jesus Presence.It is
that simple and that difficult.We need
to get people to come to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament so that He can inspire
them to live the Gospel.We need
Eucharistic Adoration with Exposition because it is proven that more souls
visit our Lord when He is exposed in a monstrance than hidden in a Tabernacle.
Make no mistake! The more Eucharstic Adoration, the better
Mass attendance!
Let us get souls to the Physical Presence of our Lord by
growing Perpetual Adoration with a formal, experienced, supported
infrastructure.
Key to the plan is those who will play a major role in this
effort. They must find time to have at
least one holy hour of Adoration a week, preferably scheduled.We must practice what we preach.The main rule of the Church regarding
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is that Jesus must never be exposed and
left alone.Reposing the Blessed
Sacrament more that twice in a 24 hour period should be an exception, not a
norm.
At the same time, Individual parishes should not be lorded
over. The most liberal are often the most restrictive when it comes to
Eucharistic Adoration but yet at the same time excessive leniency should be
avoided. Throwing a towel over the
Monstrance multiple times a day, for example, should not be a common practice.
Every Diocese should have a committee devoted exclusively to
Eucharistic Adoration and much like what is done for vocations, a separate
website devoted to Eucharistic Adoration
The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Catholic
Church and as such the Mass and Adoration should be the most important
activities of the Church.The great book
“Soul of the Apostolate, should be a must read for anyone on this team to grow
Adoration.This book explains how the interior
life is more important than whatever ministry people choose to be involved
in.Eucharistic Adoration as a Ministry
is more important than Donut Ministry, Fraternal Organizations, Festivals,
Political Action, and so on. St Mother Teresa for example said that abortion
will end when every parish practices significant Eucharistic Adoration.She did not say political Marches for Life
would end abortion.She did not say
marches were bad, but she did not say they were most important.If this advice was followed from Mother
Teresa, 40 Hours of Adoration would be common place during major marches for
life.
Confirmation candidates, catechumens, YAM members should be
encouraged to take an adult role in the Church and take at least one scheduled
holy hour per week at a chapel with scheduled Adoration. Parents of Religious
Ed kids should be taught the importance of Mass and Adoration. Stop treating
your people like kids when it comes to faith.
A number of Eucharistic Congresses around the country during
the Revival did not even have an Adoration table. This is an indication of a lack of importance
give to the Eucharist, even during the Eucharistic Revival.
THERE MUST BE MORE EMPHASIS AND PROMOTION ON EUCHARISTIC
ADORATON AFTER THE REVIVAL THAN THERE WAS DURING THE REVIVAL AND THAT EMPHASIS
MUST LAST FOR YEARS TO COME. This will take work.Dedicated, supported work.
